Claiming Tifa
by generalquistis
Summary: Tifa is having trouble with her fellow AVALANCHE members. Rufus is being forced to marry someone to produce an heir... what will happen to them?
1. Claiming Tifa ch1

Claiming Tifa 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com or generalquistis@hotmail.com)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but the story plot. All respective characters belong to their respective owners… if you don't have any clue on who those owners are, they are the creators of Final Fantasy VII: Squaresoft.

**Author's Note**: Oh well, never mind. No, I don't want to poison minds, but your conscience should just tell you what to do. Furthermore, if you are close-minded, don't read this story.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

            "HELLO!!!" She repeated for the fifth time before Cloud finally looked up at her with a blank look on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked with a funny look on her face.

Cloud slowly got out of bed and walked groggily to the window. He realized that he had fallen asleep the whole afternoon after eating lunch, and when he woke up, it was already 7:00pm. The streetlights were already switched on outside and the nightlife a few blocks away from the inn was already beginning to start. He leaned forward against the windowsill and sighed heavily before finally speaking up with hopeful tone. "Did I just dream everything?" he asked.

The girl with brownish-mahogany hair stared back at him with a perplexed look on her face. "You mean the news that Barret told us this morning?" she asked.

Cloud thought for awhile and everything came back into his senses when he turned to the right side of the horizon, expecting to see some ruins, but unfortunately, all he saw was the newly-rebuilt ShinRa H.Q.

"Neo-ShinRa isn't a dream… it's for real." She said gently.

Cloud clenched his teeth and shook his head in disbelief before sighing and then faced her with a grim look on his face. "Aerith," he said.

She just smiled gently at him. "I think it won't be that bad…" she told him.

Cloud leaned back against the wall by the window. "You think so?" he asked.

Aerith shrugged and approached him. "A little optimism won't hurt if you cannot really hope for something nice…" she told him reassuringly before taking his hand in hers. "So, shall we go down for dinner?" she asked with a gentle look on her face.

Cloud could not help but smile at her. "Where? Lobby restaurant or a restaurant outside this inn or the old AVALANCHE HQ?" he asked.

"I don't know… but if you want to talk to Barret about the matter regarding Neo-ShinRa, we could just have dinner with him and the others. It's also inexpensive." She suggested.

"Well… okay then," he declared before taking a last look at the tall ShinRa tower.

*** 

            Rufus stared out from the windows of his newly rebuilt office on the 70th floor. He focused his gaze on the busy streets of Midgar, seeing the improvement happening around it. "This is something new… at least my stubborn employees are beginning to fix things." He thought before turning to his office table and looking at the desk clock by the penholder. "7:00…" he muttered, suddenly feeling hungry. 

Dark Nation approached him and rubbed her head against his legs. He smiled smugly and patted her head gently. "It's so nice to be back here, huh, Dark Nation?" he asked with a low tone.

Dark Nation began to purr, but she stopped when she sensed someone nearing the door. Rufus, upon hearing heavy footsteps from outside, turned his gaze to the automatic door and stiffened his look; his smile fading away.

When the door opened, his eyes narrowed on the person. "What's for dinner, Scarlet?" he asked.

"Kyah… the kitchen's not yet ready, sir… kyah…" she explained with a stiff look before she stepped inside. 

Scarlet could not believe it when she heard Rufus groan in annoyance when he saw that she was holding 5 yellow folders in her right hand. She carefully placed those folders on his desk. "Kyah… these are the new plans from each department, sir…" she explained, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

Rufus frowned. "What do you want me to do with them?" he asked challengingly.

Scarlet was silent for a while and crossed her arms across her chest. "Well… read them?" she asked.

Rufus smiled smugly and shook his head in disbelief before looking away and turning to the window. "Let me ask you a question, Scarlet," he began.

Dark Nation sat down and began to swish her tail back and forth to the left and then to the right again while looking at Scarlet with a warning gaze.

Scarlet made a face at the panther while Rufus wasn't looking.

"W…what is it, President Rufus, sir?" she asked as she put down her hands to her sides. 

Rufus placed his hands in side pockets of his white slacks. "If I were to make a marketing plan for ShinRa, what could be the factors that I could put under _THREATS_?" he asked inquiringly.

Scarlet thought for a while before replying with a laugh, "Kyahahahaha! Why would you even make a marketing plan! We should be the ones doing that, sir…" 

"SILENCE!" he snapped.

She stiffened.

Rufus turned his head to his right so that he could see her through his peripheral vision. "I have AVALANCHE. Do you remember AVALANCHE?" he asked.

Dark Nation tilted her head to the side and said, "Meowrgh…" with a mean glint in her eyes as she continued to look at Scarlet.

Scarlet's eyes flared with a little bit of confusion and annoyance when he mentioned AVALANCHE. "Of… of course, sir. Who could forget AVALANCHE? I think they're a big threat to us, sir…" 

"…If we continue to use up all the Planet's energy. But what if as a strategy, we stop doing that?" he faced her. "…just like what I'm planning to do now?" he asked.

Scarlet's eyes grew wide. "WHAT?" she demanded.

"I want all operations on rebuilding all the reactors to stop NOW." He commanded.

But Scarlet was stubborn enough to change the subject. "I don't know about you, sir, but how old are you?" she asked with a determined but inquiring tone.

He frowned. "24." He replied.

"And you're turning 25 this December." She reminded him.

"I knew that, Scarlet. What's your point?" he snapped.

"We got you out of trouble two years ago. You're aging." She said.

"So are you, I can see wrinkles on your face even if you're only thirty-whatever." He faced her with a mocking smile on his face.

Scarlet snorted but she just decided to ignore his remark. "Kyah…" she had managed to say before she reached out for one of the folders and opened it, scanning it for a while and then looking back at Rufus, she spoke up again with a hesitant tone. "You requested us to do marketing plans so that you could decide who'll become your marketing manager and brand manager at the same time… you should read Reeve's. It's very interesting… especially the _Strategies_ he suggested to keep ShinRa alive…" she said with a smile.

Rufus turned to Dark Nation for awhile as if asking, "Should I?" 

Dark Nation just yawned.

Rufus made a face before he got it and started reading it. His eyes grew wide and Scarlet saw that his ears turned red with embarrassment and his eyes reflected an undeterminable mix of rage and confusion. "WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT!?!?" he shouted angrily.

*** 

            His voice echoed through the whole building.

Reeve swallowed and sighed uneasily before taking a drink of water. "Well… I guess he just got a hold of my marketing plan…" he muttered.

"What did you put in there anyway?" Elena asked as she put down her fork.

Reeve just smiled uneasily at Elena and the others who were having dinner with him in the 40th floor where the new cafeteria for employees is located.

*** 

            Dark Nation, to her surprise, hid under Rufus's office desk with a bushy tail and her two front paws were on top of her head, as if she's covering her ears.

Rufus could feel his heart racing and his whole head burning in intense heat due to the sudden rush of blood to his head. "Where's the paper shredder?" he asked aloud while looking around.

"But sir?!" Scarlet ran to him, stopping him before he could approach the paper shredder beside a bookshelf. 

He looked down at her with too much embarrassment, rage and confusion in his blue eyes. "What's more to discuss, Scarlet?" he demanded.

"Think about it! You need an heir! Someone to take over once you're old! You can't just give the presidency and ownership to some guy here! Who knows, he could be a dork of some sort!" she tried to convince.

Rufus raised an eyebrow and moved away from her with a disgusted look on his face. "Oh man! Scarlet! You're how many years older than me! Don't you dare expect me to marry you because never in my dreams did I ever imagine myself marrying someone older than me!" he snapped, his blush worsening.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips with a ridiculed look on her face as she gasped. "Kyah! No! I wasn't implying that you should… ugh… kyahahah… marry me! Kyah! That'd be ridiculous!" she snapped.

Rufus could feel himself sweating. He shook his head in disbelief and rushed to the window, looking outside and gazing at the view. "Well what do you want me to do? No one likes a ShinRa brat, you know?" he asked with an insecure look on his face as he flipped his hair.

"We could force a woman your age or someone a little bit younger than you." She suggested.

"No, I'd like to marry someone for love… I'm not like my demented father." He said.

"Or we could just get you a girl and you can impregnate her and keep her here until she gives birth to your child and then we'll get rid of her. Kyah…" she suggested with a sly smile.

Rufus's eyes grew wide in disbelief as he faced her. He pointed an accusing finger at her. "Are you trying to imply that I should be like my father? That'd be shit!" he snapped angrily at her.

Scarlet swallowed. "I was only kidding, sir…" she muttered glumly.

Rufus made a gesture like shooing her away. "Go and call Reeve, Heidegger, Palmer, Reno, Elena and Rude. NOW!" he commanded angrily.

Scarlet did not bother to say "Yes, sir!"

She just ran off.

Rufus took a deep breath, released it and then went to his office chair and plopped down while rubbing his forehead. 

Dark Nation got out from underneath his table and went to his feet and rubbed her head against his leg. "Meowrrgh…" she purred happily.

Rufus sighed heavily. "This is confusing, Dark Nation… I haven't even had a girlfriend before. I mean, ever since I turned 12, my diseased father's been forcing me to have a girlfriend. Is it my fault that I'm very picky? Besides, those girls that he kept on introducing to me are either sluts or rich girls with shitty attitudes… and then there goes the rumor that I'm gay just because I still don't have a girlfriend… and those idiotic execs sound like they're rushing me… forcing me to…" he stopped talking when the door opened again and there was Reeve, Heidegger, Elena and Scarlet.

"That was fast…" Rufus realized before he removed his hands from his face and turned his chair to face them all. "Where are Reno, Palmer and Rude?" he asked with a stiff tone.

"They're coming. We just went ahead, sir." Elena replied with a weak smile.

Rufus stared at them for a while before turning to Reeve. "Reeve," he began.

Reeve jerked. "Yes, sir?" he asked.

Rufus's eyes narrowed at him. "I want you to defend your plan. Why do you think that it is necessary for me to produce an heir?" he asked.

Reeve smiled uneasily. "I just want the best for ShinRa, sir. Besides, you can't just give the presidency and ownership of the company to me or to Reno or Rude especially when something bad and unexpected happens to you. With an heir, we could be sure that ShinRa could start another powerful dynasty and rule with no hassles…" he trailed off when Elena raised her hand, pleading to speak up.

Rufus turned his attention to her, giving her the signal to speak out.

She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sure you've read _Cinderella,_ sir?" she asked.

Heidegger, Scarlet and Reeve could feel something coming. They began to feel very uneasy about Elena's opening line.

"Of course. Why?" Rufus asked with a stiff tone.

Elena chuckled lightly. "Well… maybe you could throw a ball just like in Cinderella and you could find a suitable 'princess' there for a 'prince' like you." She suggested.

Everyone was silent.

"Gyah… why not just pick out a random girl? That'd be easier and less hassle…" Heidegger began.

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Elena argued.

Rufus watched them quietly as they continued to argue.

"Kyahahahahaha! Let's go and pick out the files of all the female citizens of Midgar aged 23-25!" Scarlet said as she approached Rufus's desk. "Can we use your PC, sir?" she asked.

Rufus stood up and moved away from them. "Whatever pleases you, Scarlet," he said sarcastically before heading for the window to gaze outside again.

Reeve began to enter the database password and then when the SEARCH dialog box appeared, he selected under TYPE OF SEARCH _"random_", and typed on the text box "age range 23-25" and selected "Female" under GENDER but did not type anything on _Type Name _and then pressed enter.

"Searching. Please wait" the computer spoke up.

It took five seconds before a search result appeared.

"Done." The computer announced.

"GYAH!" Heidegger gasped.

"Kyah!" Scarlet covered her mouth in awe.

Elena's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open in surprise and disbelief. "Oh my…" she couldn't go on.

Reeve's eyes were wide in surprise but his lips curved into a slight smile upon seeing what the search result had shown to them.

Rufus, upon hearing the gasps and Elena's reaction, turned to them with a deep frown on his face, which disappeared when he saw the picture of a young lady with dark hair and crimson eyes. She was not that pretty at first glance, but as Rufus continued to stare at her, he found her to be very beautiful…

The most beautiful girl he had ever laid his eyes upon.

"Random Search gave you one result. Tifa Lockheart. Turned 25 last May. Lives in Sector 7, Midgar. Would you like to make another search?" the computer spoke up as a Yes/No dialog box appeared.

Rufus did not notice that everyone was already looking at him. 

"I've seen her before," he realized as he approached the PC.

"She's from AVALANCHE." Scarlet declared glumly as she crossed her arms.

Rufus stopped in his tracks and then turned to Scarlet. "AVALANCHE?" he asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." All of them replied.

Rufus thought for a while and then nodded slightly. "Okay then… I want you to plan a big party. Venue is in the new ballroom on the second floor. Tomorrow night. 6 pm sharp up to 12 midnight. Everyone from all Sectors are required to come." He told them.

Elena covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling.

"Gyahahahaha! President Rufus, what are you saying?" Heidegger demanded.

"Kyah… yeah, it's so unlikely of you!" Scarlet said.

Rufus ignored the two and then turned to Elena. "I have some work for you to do…" he said with a sly smile on his face as he approached her and patted her shoulder gently. "I want you to make a special invitation…" he began.

*** 


	2. Claiming Tifa ch2

Claiming Tifa 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com or generalquistis@hotmail.com)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but the story plot. All respective characters belong to their respective owners… if you don't have any clue on who those owners are, they are the creators of Final Fantasy VII: Squaresoft.

**Author's Note**: Oh well, never mind. No, I don't want to poison minds, but your conscience should just tell you what to do. Furthermore, if you are close-minded, don't read this story.

________________________________________________________ 

            Breakfast, the next day, consisted of only a big loaf of bread, which surprised Cloud and Aerith because it was also just like dinner the other night since nobody cooked dinner.

Aerith immediately asked, "Did Barret make breakfast?"

Yuffie just looked at her with a tired look on her face. "No, I did." She said as she slowly raised her hand and put it down again on her lap before sighing.

"Why? Where's Tifa?" Cloud asked as he sat down.

"She's… I don't really know…" Yuffie replied before yawning.

"Where's Barret?" Aerith asked while looking around.

"He and Cid went off looking for her." Yuffie replied as she began to eat.

Aerith thought for a while before finally starting to eat, then spoke up, "Maybe Tifa had enough of this." She said.

"Had enough of what?" Yuffie asked.

"Oh you know… household chores? If I remember it right, ever since Neo-ShinRa came to be, you all were talking about plans on infiltrating the company: you, Barret, Cid and maybe Vincent; I 'm not sure… but you leave Tifa here. I even remember Barret telling Tifa '_you stay here, Teef! You're the most recognizable among all of us and ShinRa could just get you, you know? Oh, and you could baby-sit Marlene too! The rest of us will be in another place talking about those ShinRa foo's… we'll just tell you what the meeting was all about when we get back here, 'kay?'_" Aerith explained and she even lowered her voice and made it sound a little raspy as if attempting to really imitate Barret's voice.

Yuffie and Cloud were silent.

Aerith sighed heavily as she crossed her arms. "But did you guys tell her about the meeting? No." she told Yuffie.

Yuffie looked up at Aerith with a look of wonder in her eyes. 

Cloud frowned at Yuffie. "Just one question…" he told her.

Yuffie just looked at him. She was not in the mood to answer to the two who seemed like they were interrogating her about why they treated Tifa like that.

Cloud leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "What's with the _'you're the most recognizable among all of us and ShinRa could just get you…'_?" he asked with an attempt to imitate Barret's voice.

Yuffie just shrugged. "Dunno about Barret but he said that he saw the way Rufus was looking at her during…" before she could continue, there was a knock on the door. Yuffie sprinted to the door and opened it with a cheery look on her face, but it soon faded away when she realized who was there.

"Good morning. My name is Elena and I would like to know how many young ladies are here in this house?" the person from outside said.

Yuffie stared at her for a while and recognized the uniform she was wearing. The Turks' uniform. "What kind of young lady? There are four but the fourth one's a little girl." She said with an unsure tone, thinking about Marlene.

"Oh, you could include her. As long as the young ladies are single and with no boyfriends or unengaged." Elena explained with a happy smile on her face.

Yuffie thought for a while. "Well, if that is so, there are only three remaining. So, what's with the…" she trailed off when she saw Reno coming up from behind Elena. "Do I need to call on back-up?" she thought silently, thinking about Cloud and Aerith. 

"Just give her the invitations, will ya?" she heard him say.

"What's the rush? It's only 9 in the morning and Reeve's delivering the other invitations in the other Sectors." She heard Elena whisper to Reno before facing her again and handed her four invitations. "There's a grand ball tonight at the ShinRa building. Strictly formal, no questions asked. You can take boys with you or none at all, but preferably, without boys. Heeheehee!" Elena giggled and Reno rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Wh…what's the ball for?" Yuffie asked.

"You've read Cinderella?" Reno asked, pointing an accusing finger at her.

She nodded.

"You know Cinderella?" he asked.

She nodded again with a confused look on her face.

"Then you know the prince in Cinderella?" he continued.

"Yes, Mister Reno, sir… but…"

"Imagine Prez Rufus ShinRa as the Prince and then one of you girls without a boyfriend is going to be his princess. Get it? Got it? Good." Reno said before grabbing Elena's hand and dragging her to the next house.

"Hey, I wasn't finished yet!" Elena wailed.

"Oh, shut up! Let's hurry up, we still have more things to do in HQ." He told her.

Yuffie gaped at them in awe before she finally closed the door and took a deep breath before she started to examine the letters and muttered the names written on each. "Aerith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Marlene Wallace, Tifa Lockheart…" she trailed off when she came across the last invitation. She sniffed the envelope and it smelled like some men's perfume. "Icks…" she reacted in disgust. Then, comparing the handwriting of the last invitation to the first three, she realized that the handwriting of the first three was different from the last one… and the last one seemed to have something else inside besides the invitation. Yuffie shook Tifa's invitation near her right ear and was surprised to hear something rattling inside. Alarmed and confused, she ran back to the dining area. "Cloud! Aerith!" she called out.

*** 

            "So are you saying there's something else inside?" Barret asked as he grabbed the invitation from Yuffie's grasp.

"Better open that f*ck*ng thing; it could be a bomb!" Cid warned.

"But it's for Tifa," Aerith reasoned with a worried look on her face.

"Wait, let's be reasonable! Why would they bomb Tifa? Why not Yuffie or Aerith or even Marlene?" Vincent argued as he made gestures with his hands to stop them.

"We could just wait for her to arrive before we open it." Cloud suggested as he crossed his hands.

"C'mon, I don't sense anything bad about that letter…" Aerith told them with a convincing look on her face.

"But it's from ShinRa. If it's from ShinRa, it's bad! And why would those guys invite Marlene too? She's just a little girl!" Barret snapped.

Aerith reread her invitation, "It all says the same thing with Yuffie and Marlene's invitations: _Greetings! You are cordially invited to a very special masquerade ball tonight at the ballroom of the ShinRa Electric Power Company main Headquarters. Please be there on or before 18:00…_" she stopped reading when Yuffie interrupted, "Reno mentioned something about Rufus being the prince in Cinderella and then… one of us girls could just be lucky enough to be his princess…"

They were all in awe.

"This is a masquerade, right?" Vincent asked, finally getting it, but he did not say anything more.

"Yeah, and the girls are going to be wearing f*ck*ng masks." Cid said.

Everyone was silent.

"We could let Red sniff it for us," Marlene suggested, breaking the silence all of a sudden because it was beginning to creep her out.

"Red's back in the inn…" Cloud muttered as he grabbed the letter and examined it. "All young ladies, huh?" he muttered as he sniffed the letter and he raised an eyebrow. "I know this smell… it's that expensive body spray for men…" he thought silently but he just kept quiet to avoid further questions. Then, he turned to the handwriting and stared at it for a couple of minutes before finally deciding to open it. After he did so, he looked inside and pulled out a two-fold card, same like the ones for Aerith, Marlene and Yuffie, but when he opened it, a heart-shaped silver locket fell on the table. 

Their eyes grew wide upon seeing the locket. "What the…" but before Barret could grab it, Cloud got it and returned it inside the envelope before he declared, "Same contents but it has a signature." He got the locket again and hid it inside his pocket. He inserted the card back inside the envelope without the locket.

"What signature?" Yuffie asked.

Cloud was about to answer but he was interrupted by the sound of the front door closing. They all turned to the doorway and there was Tifa looking so harassed with a glum look on her face. "Why are you all seated around the dinner table staring at me like that?" she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

Cloud showed her the invitation, gesturing for her to get it. "This came for you this morning." He said.

Tifa just stared at the invitation with a blank look in her crimson eyes, then turned back to Cloud. When he realized that Tifa didn't have any intention to approach him, he just stood up with a grunt and went to her. "I don't know what your problem is, but here you go." He told her.

"It's open," she stated flatly.

Everyone was silent.

Tifa effortlessly grabbed the invitation from his grasp and walked out of the place, slamming the door as she stepped out.

"Nice one, Cloud," Cid cheered sarcastically.

"Maybe it's that time of the month that's why she's like that." Yuffie suggested.

"Yeah, right… you mean she's had that time of the month for 5 weeks already?" Aerith argued as she crossed her arms and stood up. "I think if I really belonged here in AVALANCHE, I'd just give her to ShinRa as a gift!" she said with an angry stare at everyone before she walked out of the room.

"What is her problem?" Barret asked.

"You don't get it, do you? TIFA HATES THE HELL OUT OF US BECAUSE WE'RE TAKING HER FOR GRANTED!" Vincent yelled impatiently, surprising everyone else because he seldom expressed such emotion…

…and he really yelled.

"You think Tifa will be attending that ball?" Barret asked, ignoring Vincent.

Vincent just shook his head in disbelief and walked out of the room.

Cloud sat down again. "Now Aerith is mad…" he muttered glumly as he got the locket and opened it. It had no picture inside but the ShinRa crest was engraved on the left slot.

"Uh… Cloud, could you do us a favor?" Barret asked.

Cloud could sense something bad coming but he did not say anything until Barret began to explain, "You see, we just can't let Yuffie and/or Marlene attend that ball… especially Aerith… so, maybe you could just…"

Cloud stood up. "THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME WEAR A FRIGGIN' DRESS!" he said in panic before he ran off.

Yuffie ran after him.


	3. Claiming Tifa ch3

Claiming Tifa 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com or generalquistis@hotmail.com)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but the story plot. All respective characters belong to their respective owners… if you don't have any clue on who those owners are, they are the creators of Final Fantasy VII: Squaresoft.

**Author's Note**: Oh well, never mind. No, I don't want to poison minds, but your conscience should just tell you what to do. Furthermore, if you are close-minded, don't read this story. Anyway, I'm just writing this to relax myself because it's finals week and economics, philosophy and BIOLOGY combined in one sitting is not a really good idea……. -.-' 

_______________________________________________________ 

            "Are all the guests here?" Reeve asked.

"Kya~h… you look too presentable." Scarlet teased upon seeing his tuxedo.

"We all have to look presentable because it's a ball!" Reeve argued.

"A masquerade ball, that is…" Scarlet said as they finally reached the entrance to the ballroom. "Better wear your mask now." She told him before she put on hers. It looked like the mask from the movie _Scream_.

From behind them, Reno laughed out loud and pointed hideously at Scarlet. "Oh, I thought the face you're already wearing IS your mask? Man, that one looks better!" he said.

Reeve pulled Scarlet inside the ballroom before she could even strangle Reno who was still laughing out loud.

"Shut up and let's go," Elena told him as they got inside. Reno was not wearing any mask, just his shades over his eyes. Elena had a veil over her face; no mask either.

"Okay, how are we gonna know if Tifa's already here?" Reno whispered.

"What are we supposed to do anyway?" she asked.

"I don't really understand it but Rufus just told us to scatter around the place and look for that girl. Once we find her, we're supposed to take her _gently_ to him." He explained.

"Oh, so this whole masquerade ball is just a cover-up?" she asked.

"Shh… someone else might hear you." He snapped as he nudged her.

Elena made a face. "Okay, so let's look for girls with big boobs wearing a heart-shaped silver locket." She whispered.

"Locket?" he asked.

"It's a locket that belonged to Rufus ever since he was 12. His dad gave it to him, telling him to give it to the girl he likes. It's just in his vault and he never touched it ever since, that's according to Scarlet. I was there when he made the invitation to Tifa and it was very personal in the sense that he signed it." She explained in a whispery tone as she got two glasses of red wine from the buffet table. She handed the other glass to Reno but to her surprise, he did not drink it. 

"What did he even see in that girl?" Reno asked in disbelief.

"Why? I think she's not bad…" Elena stated.

"C'mon, Elena, you know the reason! She came from the slums; she's not even beautiful. She only has that big chest and this feisty but goody-goody attitude!" he argued before gulping the contents.

"I think she's a pretty girl, gya~h…" General Heidegger said from behind Reno. He was gobbling up some cocktail shrimp. "You'd better watch out what you're saying because if Rufus heard that, he'd wring your scrawny little neck. Gyahahahahahahahaha!" he told Reno with a mocking stare.

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Reno asked.

"You're disrespecting me, Mister Reno… have you forgotten that you're just a Turk?" Heidegger asked with a sly smile before he poked Reno's shoulder with a cocktail shrimp.

Reno made a face. "Never mind, Sir…" he said before he turned away and saw Rufus, very recognizable for him and the other execs of ShinRa despite the mask he was wearing all over his face. He wasn't wearing his usual white suit; instead, he was in black. He was socializing with a rich couple with their daughter beside them, her smile indicating that she was hitting on Rufus. Reno, Heidegger and Elena exchanged disgusted looks. "That can't be avoided, our dear President is overly-handsome and those instances cannot just leave him alone… gyahahahahahaha!" Heidegger laughed before he continued to eat, but he choked. The moment he did so, Reno and Elena just pretended not to know anything but just went off.

"Gyah…. *choke* Help!" Heidegger called out to the two in a raspy tone. He immediately rushed to the punch bowl and got himself a glass.

Reeve observed Heidegger with a disapproving look on his face before he turned to Scarlet who was talking to Rude. Obviously, Rude wasn't really replying. He just kept nodding his head or shaking it in disapproval.

"Kyahahaha! I've been thinking… since we've sent out invitations to the girls in AVALANCHE including the little girl, what if they've got something in their minds and plan an attack here while inside the premises?" Scarlet asked Rude.

Rude just shrugged.

Reeve sighed. "I don't think we're doing anything bad right now ever since Neo-ShinRa emerged in the market again, right?" he asked, interrupting the two.

"And your point is?" Scarlet asked.

"Why would they even attack us if we're not doing anything bad?" he asked.

The two continued to argue for quite some time so Rude just left them and headed for Reno and Elena.

"Oh, hi, Rude. Any sign of the girl?" Elena asked, careful not to mention her name so that it would not be obvious if ever any AVALANCHE members have happened to pass by.

Rude just shook his head as he followed closely behind the two.

As they were walking, Reno saw a young lady with long dark hair wearing a pink gown. The young lady had big boobs and she was wearing a heart-shaped silver locket. He stopped walking, making Rude bump against him accidentally. Elena stopped and followed the trail of Reno's gaze. Her eyes grew wide in surprise. "That's her," she declared in a whispery tone to Rude and Reno.

Rude just stared at the girl. "Uh, guys," he managed to say, but it was too late; Reno & Elena began to approach the girl, leaving Rude behind.

The girl was standing beside a rather big fat man wearing a blue tuxedo and a monster mask but that did not stop them from asking the girl, "Excuse me, miss? Can we talk to you for a second?" Reno asked with a kind smile on his face.

The girl looked up at Reno but did not say anything.

"Are you Tifa Lockheart?" Elena asked, going straight to the point.

The girl turned to Elena and nodded.

Elena and Reno looked at one another first and then turned to the big fat man. "You're with Miss Lockheart?" the former asked.

The man shook his head and moved away.

Reno smiled at the girl and took her hand. "If you don't mind, Miss Lockheart, someone would like to meet you." He said.

Tifa withdrew her hand from him and slapped his hand with her purse.

"Ow…" Reno muttered, trying to stop himself from reacting too loudly and hitting her too.

Elena nudged Reno. "You shouldn't harass our dear guest, Reno! How could you!" she nagged before she turned to Tifa with a kind smile on her face. "Would you mind following us to President Rufus? He'd like to have a word with you." She said.

Tifa shook her head.

With that, they went off, leaving the fat man behind.

Reeve and Scarlet stopped arguing; Heidegger stopped eating; Palmer stared.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Kya~h… well, what do you know?" she said airily.

Reeve frowned as he examined Tifa. "I don't know… isn't she too tall right now?" he asked.

"Oh, pish-posh, Reeve! Kyahahahahahaha! She's wearing high heels! Who wouldn't look tall with high heels?!" Scarlet mocked as she slapped his back.

"No… she also looks a bit bigger than the last time we saw her…" he reasoned uncomfortably.

"Kya~h… she could've gotten fat or it's her boobs giving us the illusion…" Scarlet said.

"Damn it, let's just go and see for ourselves… I have a bad feeling about this," Reeve told her before he went ahead.

*** 

            She felt the cool evening breeze blow against her skin. "It's beginning to get colder… I think winter's coming soon," she said miserably as she continued to walk while hugging herself, wrapping her maroon shawl against her upper body. "Well at least we're nearing the building. It's the first week of December and it's the cold air's beginning to make my lips chapped." Aerith told her.

She nodded uneasily, feeling somewhat nervous.

Aerith sensed her nervousness and she giggled. "Oh, don't be nervous! There's nothing to be nervous about!" she said.

"Well… it's just that… I've never attended something extravagant such as this before… I mean, not that I really wanted to attend this but you just forced me to do this!" 

They finally arrived at the main entrance of the building and a second-class SOLDIER greeted them a pleasant evening. "Good evening, lovely misses. Your names?" he asked.

Aerith handed him their invitations. "Aerith Gainsborough and Tifa Lockheart." She said.

"Do the boys even know we're here?" Tifa whispered to Aerith as the SOLDIER began to open up the invitations and see the contents to verify.

"No. I can't find Cloud and Barret so I guess we'll just have to go here ourselves without their permission. Hey, there's nothing wrong with having fun, right?" Aerith asked her.

Tifa nodded uneasily.

The SOLDIER came across Tifa's invitation and opened it. Tifa saw Aerith's open invitation and took a peek at hers. She frowned slightly. "How come mine's got a signature?" she thought.

The SOLDIER smiled warmly at Tifa. "Well, you may enter now, Miss Lockheart and Miss Gainsborough. President Rufus is really looking forward to meeting you." He said, stressing the last word as he looked back at Tifa.

Tifa grabbed the invitations and dragged Aerith inside, feeling so nervous. "What was that all about?" she demanded in a frantic manner.

Aerith blinked. "What?" she asked, feeling so clueless.

Tifa showed her the invitations. "Look! Rufus signed this one and yours doesn't even have a single signature!" she said frantically.

Aerith examined the invitations. 

Tifa began to fan herself with the invitations and she began to smell something. She stopped and sniffed Aerith's invitation. 

Nothing.

Then, she sniffed her invitation.

Her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Where did I smell this before?" she thought quietly as she stared at the floor. Then, a memory flashback returned to her from when she was being interrogated in Junon.

She had close contact with Rufus there when he entered the room where they kept her…

And he was wearing the same perfume.

"No, I think it's a body spray of some sort…" she thought with a deep frown on her face. She just smiled uneasily at Aerith. "Let's just go inside," she said weakly.

Aerith stared at her. "Are you okay? You're blushing…" she said.

Tifa could feel her ears getting warmer. "No I'm not…" she said as she went ahead of Aerith. 

She just shrugged and followed after Tifa.

The moment they got inside, they saw the Turks plus Scarlet, Heidegger and Palmer standing beside Rufus ShinRa and a girl. "I wonder what's eating them?" Aerith asked.

"Maybe they're introducing the girl to Rufus for a one-night stand." Tifa muttered before turning to the buffet table. "I'm thirsty," she told Aerith.

As they walked, all eyes turned to them. Aerith was the only one wearing her mask but Tifa wasn't; she was just holding it in her hand.

The moment Reeve and Rude saw them, their mouths dropped open. "What the…" they both said. 

Reeve noticed that Tifa wasn't wearing any locket. Immediately, he nudged Rude to head for Rufus while he headed for Tifa and Aerith. 

Tifa got herself a glass of punch and began to drink carefully while eyeing Reeve who was approaching her in a frantic manner. She put down the glass on the table and looked at Reeve as he panted. "Yes?" she asked.

Aerith stared at him.

Reeve smiled sheepishly at the ladies. "Hello… my name is Reeve. I'm the Head of the City Development Division of ShinRa…" he introduced.

Tifa smiled weakly. "As I've heard, Mister Reeve… uhm… my name is Tifa Lockheart… formerly from AVALANCHE." She introduced.

Aerith was quite surprised at what Tifa had said so she just forced a smile at Reeve. "And I'm Aerith Gainsborough." She said.

Reeve raised his eyebrows at them and pointed at Aerith. "You're Strife's girlfriend?" he asked.

Aerith blushed. "Uh…" but before she could answer, Reeve said, "Where's he?" She shrugged. "I don't know… I haven't seen him ever since this morning." She explained.

"Oh no… she attends this party without an escort… what the…" he thought, but he was interrupted when he heard Heidegger's voice from the center of the ballroom. "Gya~h… Ladies and gentlemen, make way for President Rufus. He's gonna be dancing the waltz with Miss Tifa Lockheart!"

Tifa's eyes grew wide in surprise. "WHAT?!?" she screamed. She turned to Reeve and pointed at herself. "But I **AM** Tifa Lockheart! What's going on here?" She demanded angrily.

"I don't know myself!" Reeve reasoned uneasily.

Rufus stared down at the girl with a curious look on his face. "Why don't you remove your mask?" he asked as he removed his.

The girl just shook her head.

Rufus uneasily took her hand and found it to be bigger. He could recall that back in Junon, he had examined Tifa's hands and her whole body as he stared at her from a far in the interrogation room. "There's something fishy in here… why isn't she talking? And she definitely grew taller…" he thought suspiciously.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a familiar-looking girl marching to them.

Scarlet's eyes grew wide in surprise upon seeing the girl.

Elena and Reno gasped.

Rufus's mouth dropped open and he instantly let go of the girl and moved away, looking at her in complete confusion. "I don't know what's going on here but who the hell are you?" Tifa demanded from the girl.

The girl took a few steps backward. "Wh…what are you doing here? I thought…" she spoke up… but the voice isn't feminine…

"Teef! What are you doin' here?" 

Tifa turned around and saw Barret with a monster mask in his hand. She gasped in disbelief and then turned back to the "girl". Rufus frowned and went to the "girl", pulling off the mask along with the hair and to everyone's surprise, it was just a wig. 

His mouth dropped open in awe, so did Tifa. 

"CLOUD!?" Aerith gasped in disbelief.

Rufus could feel his patience draining. "YOU!" he growled.

"Uh-oh…" Cloud thought before flashing Barret an angry look. "We'll talk later…" he said in his mind.

Barret gulped.

"AVALANCHE!" someone screamed.

Everyone panicked except for Rufus.

Tifa took a few steps backward and covered her face. She wanted to run but she couldn't move.

She could hear everyone panicking and leaving the room, plus several incoming footsteps. 

SOLDIER.

"Oh no… this isn't happening…" she thought as she removed her hands from her face. She saw Cloud running to her and handed her the locket. "I think this belongs to you," he said before he and Barret ran off, dodging from SOLDIER.

Aerith, knowing that everyone from the elites of Midgar hated AVALANCHE and were pro-ShinRa, grabbed Tifa's hand and ran off, following after Cloud and Barret.

Rufus just stood there in awe, not saying anything as he stared at Tifa. She took one last look at him before she started running on her own.

He thought he saw tears in her eyes; that's when he moved. He ran after them.

"Sir!" Heidegger followed after him, so did the other executives and the Turks.

At one point, Aerith had to let go of Tifa and just pick up her own speed to catch up with Cloud. Tifa continued to run but she was beginning to feel so tired. 

"Stop right there!" she heard Reno's voice.

Tifa continued to run but she stopped when someone blocked her way. She gasped in surprise.

"Scarlet!" she realized.

The woman slapped her face hard enough to make her fall to the ground. She could feel blood from her mouth and she trembled, but she stood up again in an attempt to hit Scarlet's face with her clenched fists, but somebody shot her from behind.

Rufus's eyes grew wide in surprise and he stopped in his tracks when he saw Heidegger holding a shotgun. Flashbacks from his past returned to him, from the point when he saw his very own father kill his mother by shooting her. But he wasn't able to say anything. He watched quietly at Scarlet picked up Tifa, who was still struggling but her left thigh was bleeding. He could hear Elena and Reeve scolding Scarlet and he even saw Reno really crossing the line of disrespect and pushing Heidegger aside, demanding why he had to do that.

Scarlet slapped Tifa's face. "You bitch! You and your AVALANCHE friends are going to suffer for good! How dare you enter this place and be very rude! We invited you here in good terms but you ruined our trust…" she trailed off when she saw tears from Tifa's eyes. Scarlet felt her heart sinking and she let go of the girl. Tifa fell to the ground, sobbing helplessly. "I did not do anything!" she kept on saying as she continued to sob.

Elena covered her mouth to stop herself from gasping. Her eyes began to fill to tears when she saw the locket clutched in Tifa's grasp.

Everyone fell silent and they could just hear Tifa's crying and sobbing… and the sound of Rufus's boots against the hard marble floor of the lobby as he approached them.

All of them stepped aside, making way for Rufus. Scarlet covered her mouth and just ran off.

Rufus passed by Heidegger. "Go away," he growled in a low whispery tone before turning to Reeve, Palmer and Reno. "You, call the medics." He commanded.

The three ran off. 

Heidegger exited in shame. "Gyah…"

Rufus sped up until he reached Tifa. His angry expression softened as he stared down at her for a while, listening to her sobs. "I didn't do anything!" she kept on saying in between her cries.

Rufus swallowed hard and knelt down before her. She looked up at him. "President Rufus… please… don't kill me… I did…I did not even… I did not even do anything! I just wanted to come here because you requested for it…" she stammered with a trembling voice. She bowed down, holding his hands as if she was asking for sympathy and pity from him… she spoke like he was still of a higher position who holds her life in his hands.

With that, Rufus smiled sadly at her and embraced her tightly. "Of course, I won't, Tifa… I believe you…" he whispered softly against her ear.

Tifa continued to cry but she was beginning to feel so dizzy because of loss of blood.

Rufus did not care if the blood was staining his clothes. He looked up at Elena. "What's taking them so long?" he demanded.

Elena was surprised because he did not look so scary. She was not able to answer immediately.

Rufus just stood up and carried Tifa in his arms, refusing to speak further. Elena watched as he exited the building. "Where is he going?" she thought in surprise.

*** 


	4. Claiming Tifa ch4

The Claiming of Tifa 

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Tifa ShinRa (shinra_bleedingbeauty@yahoo.com)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but the story plot. All respective characters belong to their respective owners… if you don't have any clue on who those owners are, they are the creators of Final Fantasy VII: Squaresoft.

**Quistis's Note**: Finals week is almost over and I'm just about to go through a panel to defend my marketing plan… in the meantime, have a dose of this! This time, I've collaborated with my friend Tifa and she's here to help me with this fic.

**Tifa's Note: ** There's got to be a nasty explanation about why ShinRa's back while they're supposed tah be dead and rotting in the ground just like you, right? So stop complaining about OOC and whatsoever because there's reason for everything existing and besides, the story's not yet finished so just stop complaining and READ! For this chapter, I'm the one writing so there are no traces here of Quistis… okay?

________________________________________________ 

            "Foo's! Our plan's been ruined! Why didn't you inform that you and Teef are comin' ovah to the ball?" Barret demanded from Aerith.

"Don't yell at me!" she screamed angrily which made everyone stop and stare at her.

Cloud continued to pace back and forth across the dining area trying to think of a plan to get Tifa out of ShinRa. 

"What do you even want to do with ShinRa, anyway?" Vincent asked Barret.

"I tell ya, those ShinRas are up to no good again! They're rebuilding those reactors!" he replied angrily.

"But they stopped the operations just this morning!" Cloud reasoned as he kicked off the heeled shoes off his feet and ran to Barret with an angry glare, but instead of getting threatened by Cloud, Barret just laughed at him. "Nice dress, Cloud," he teased.

"I'm serious!" Cloud snapped before turning to Aerith. "Look what you did to her!" he said.

Aerith just turned away. "Let's just go back to the inn, Cloud… and quit AVALANCHE! They're running out of logic already; you don't deserve to be here because they're just so paranoid!" she snapped before she walked out of the room, leaving all of them speechless.

Barret sighed and Vincent was thankful to the heavens regarding Barret; that for the first time, he learned how to shut up. 

Vincent sat down and crossed his arms. "What now?" he asked, turning to Cloud, then to Yuffie. He did not have the intention to ask Barret anymore.

Cloud shook his head and to his rage, he was able to push Barret aside. "I quit." He said before walking out.

Yuffie covered her mouth.

"What's wrong, Yuffie?" Marlene asked.

Yuffie smiled weakly. "He went out of the house and he's still wearing a dress…" she explained with a soft tone, trying to stifle her laughter.

*** 

            Elena got back to the 67th floor where the others had stayed. She did not say anything; she just kept on walking until she reached Heidegger and smiled weakly. Heidegger nodded as greeting before she spoke up, "Sir, Reno and the others had called upon medic as requested by President Rufus. President Rufus got out of the building with Miss Lockheart… moments later, Reno returned with the medic…" she stopped talking when she heard Palmer say, "Why didn't you follow President Rufus?"

Elena turned to him and clenched her fists. "I was… I got confused… everything was…" she could not go on.

Heidegger frowned at her. "Gyah… now we can't find them! What if it's just a trap and that bitch took him to AVALANCHE!" he snapped angrily.

"Will you just stop it with the interrogation, Heidegger? Kya~h…" Scarlet pointed out weakly as she fell in a sitting position on the floor. She shoved a lock of hair away from her eyes and looked up at all of them. "The girl… the girl did not do anything…" she said with a choke.

"Oh, so now who's side are you on, Scarlet?" he argued before turning to Elena. "You should've just followed them when you had the chance!" Heidegger snapped.

"But sir, I…" Elena tried to reason out with her wide blue eyes, but she stopped herself from talking further. "No use arguing with him…" she thought miserably before turning to Scarlet.

Reno stepped forward to Heidegger. "Let her be. She's had a rough night." he told him with a stern look on his face.

"But because of her and that bitch, we can't find President Rufus! We've searched everywhere! Look at the time! It's already two in the morning and we're still here!" Heidegger snapped.

"Stop blaming Elena and Tifa!" Reeve finally spoke up with an annoyed look on his face.

"Kya~h…" Scarlet began as she raised her eyes at them. All eyes turned to her. "I've seen her cry and… I don't know what happened to me but I just had to stop and let the poor girl go… if you are still wondering why I did that, then go and find her yourself and ask her once more… and wait until she cries and you'll understand why I'm just glad that President Rufus got her away from this place which we turned into hell!" she explained angrily at Heidegger.

Everyone was quiet.

Rude turned and walked away from them. 

"Where are you going?" Reno called out.

Rude did not answer, as usual. He just stepped out of the room.

*** 

            Cloud sat down on the chair by the window, still feeling a little angry about the things happening. "Aerith," he began.

Aerith was just quiet. 

Cloud was not even looking at her. "How did you manage to return?" he asked.

She just looked down.

"Aerith, I feel like I'm not myself anymore… I should not be talking like this but…" he trailed off when she interrupted him. "ShinRa." She said simply.

His frown deepened. She had been alive for two years already… and the day she returned, ShinRa also returned… "Where did you come from?" he asked as he stood up.

She just looked up at him, standing before him with a blank look on her face. He touched her shoulders. 

"If you're thinking that your hands are going to go through my body, it won't. I'm alive. I'm okay. I'm here with you." She told him.

"But how did you…" he began.

"Planet must have given me another chance… I heard her speaking to me… to Rufus. Rufus was the one who requested…" she stopped when she saw the look of wonder in his eyes. She smiled sheepishly. "Cloud, stop staring at me like that! Nothing happened between me and Rufus! He's just… he's just nice enough to consider my feelings that I wanted to come back and be with you. I've told him things; he told me things… several of them… one is about…" she stopped and covered her mouth. "Sorry, I can't tell you…" she said with a sorry look on her face.

Cloud just looked at her. 

"I know what you're thinking… you want to ask what's the purpose of us coming back here?" she asked.

He just nodded.

She embraced him. "To finish something… to change things…" she said gently.

Cloud did not say anything. "To change things… to finish something…" he thought silently as he began to realize what she has meant by that. He simply smiled and returned the embrace but he had this unsure look on his face. "Do you know something about Rufus?" he asked.

She did not say anything at first but then she spoke up with a soft tone. "He's supposed to be the coldest guy… no one's ever seen him bleed or cry… but a single memory had kept him hoping; made him want to change things…" she faced him with a smile on her face. "Ask Tifa if she remembers Junon…" she said simply.

Cloud's eyes grew wide in awe as memories began to flood his thoughts.

*** 

            Rufus opened his eyes when he heard someone calling his attention. "Excuse me, sir?"

He stared up at the nurse and he frowned upon realizing that he had fallen asleep in the couch by the operating room. "What happened?" he asked.

The nurse smiled at him. "She's safe now. The surgeon removed the bullet… wound's so deep but she's going to be okay." She said.

But he did not smile. He just stood up and shoved his hands inside his pockets. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Follow me to the nurse's station. You need to fill up a form first before you could see her." she said as she led the way to the station. The moment she got there, she handed him a pink form. "Here you go," she said.

He got the pink form and began to search the area for a pen. He turned to the head nurse and looked down at her coldly. "Do you have a pen?" he asked.

The nurse stared at him for a while before she handed him a sign pen from her desk. "You sure look like President Rufus ShinRa except that you look so messed up." She declared as he took the pen.

He just stared at her before reaching up to his head, touching his hair. "Fine… the gel's not working anymore…" he thought miserably after realizing that his hair wasn't brushed back any longer but several strands were already falling down to his face and getting into his eyes. He raked his fingers through his hair before he uncapped the pen and began to sign.

Name of Patient: Tifa Lockheart 

_Name of guardian:_

He paused for a while, glancing at the nurses. Then, he flipped his hair proudly before writing _Rufus ShinRa_ under "Name of guardian".

He continued to fill out the form but he stopped before he could submit it. He went back to "Name of Patient" and stared at her name. 

His eyes were icy blue and reflected coldness as he placed a dash after "Lockheart" and wrote "ShinRa" afterwards. He turned back to the head nurse and handed her the pen and the form. "Now, where is she?" he asked with a cold tone.

The nurse looked at the form first and her eyes grew wide in surprise. "You're… You're kidding me, right?" she asked in awe.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. Now, where is my _wife_?" he asked.

The nurses stared at him in disbelief.

The head nurse stood up, wide-eyed, and led the way. "T..This way, sir… on the second floor…" she said.

Rufus frowned. "That's the charity ward." He told her.

"I…I'm sorry sir but…" the nurse reasoned out.

"Get her out of the charity ward. Get her a nice room. She is a ShinRa and I'm paying for her hospital bills. Understood? Unless you want to be in Junon?" he threatened. 

The nurse smiled uneasily at him. "O…okay… sir, President ShinRa, sir!" she said before rushing upstairs. Rufus stayed there and got his mobile phone and began to make a call. "Yes, this is Rufus. I want some questions answered regarding the incident last night. Take the following people to Junon: Scarlet and Heidegger… and head for Sector 7 and take Cloud Strife and Barret Wallace too." He spoke up with a cold and evil tone and everyone who heard it made them shiver and just decide to move away before he could notice them listening.

*** 


	5. Claiming Tifa ch5

Claiming Tifa

By: General Quistis

Disclaimer: You know the drill… I don't own anything but me, myself and I… 

Author's Note: I'm alone again, making this fic… don't sue me just because I hate the world… thank you very much *I'm not making any sense, am I? Ha ha ha ha ha*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

            Vincent was seated quietly by the front porch, watching the people passing by. For the first time, he finally decided to watch people out in the open. "I must really be angry at the people inside this house…" he thought silently as he turned his gaze to the direction where he could hear the sound of a car engine. Moments later, a black limousine with the ShinRa logo on its bumper stopped by the house. All eyes turned to the black limousine as some of its doors burst open; familiar executives getting down with a few Soldiers.

"What do they want this time?" Vincent thought as he stood up, meaning to block the doorway.

Reeve stood before him, eyeing him carefully. "We would like to see Cloud Strife and Barret Wallace. We have a warrant of arrest here as requested by President Rufus ShinRa." He told him.

Vincent thought for a while before answering, "Cloud Strife doesn't live here anymore." He said.

Reeve nodded. "Well then, where is he?" he asked with a calm tone.

Vincent just stepped aside to let them in. "Are you going to take them to Junon?" he asked.

Reeve stared at him for a while. "You really know the drill, huh?" he asked.

Vincent smiled slightly. "Of course. I once belonged in your present world…" he said softly before turning away to leave.

Elena followed him with her gaze before he rounded a corner. She turned back to Reeve. "Are you sure he can fit inside the car? What if he shot our heads off?" he asked.

Reeve turned to Reno. "That's why we have some tranquilizers here to make him fall asleep." He said.

"What if his other colleagues attack us? You know that ninja and that flower girl and…"

"Shut up, Elena! That ninja's no match for us. And remember what that Vincent told us? Cloud Strife doesn't live here anymore, meaning that the flower girl isn't here too. Where he goes, she goes." Reno snapped as he took a step forward and opened the door.

*** 

            Cloud, Vincent and Aerith proceeded out of the inn as fast as they could, heading for the train station. "Thanks for informing us, Vincent," Aerith said with a worried smile on her face.

Vincent just nodded.

Aerith lowered her gaze to the ground they were walking on "I don't understand… I thought Rufus wants to change? How come he is… he is doing this?" she asked.

"Maybe the saying is true: Once a bad guy, always a bad guy." Cloud muttered in a low voice before they boarded the train. "We have to get out of Sector 7 as quickly as we could before they catch us. Once you guys get into Junon, 95% you're dead." Vincent told them.

Aerith and Cloud were silent.

*** 

            Rufus was gazing outside the window, staring up at the blue afternoon skies. He began to think about his inaugural speech when he became president. "Old man tried to control the world with money…" he thought silently before turning his gaze to the ground outside where people are walking around, going about their own business. Then, he looked up again and saw the ShinRa Tower. "…I control the world with fear…" he said softly, loud enough for only himself to hear. He came back to his senses when he sensed some movement in the room, so he turned around to face the hospital bed where Tifa was lying down. She had opened her eyes and she was gazing at him in awe.

She blinked, trying to recall what happened. "Wh…where am I?" she asked with a soft tone as she gazed around the room curiously. 

"You're in the hospital." He announced as he remained where he was, not even bothering to come near her.

"This doesn't look like the hospital in Sector 7…" she stated flatly before turning her gaze back to him again. "President Rufus?" she asked, wanting to make sure, thinking that if he isn't Rufus, she'd run away and wonder what happened to him. The last thing that she could recall, she lost consciousness as they were heading out of the ShinRa building but he was still carrying her.

He studied her for a while, gazing at her unbelievable beauty and charm… but he did not smile even as he approached her and took her hand without the dextrose, squeezing it gently. "Rufus," he corrected.

She gazed up at him with weary eyes. "Rufus," she repeated with a weary smile on her face.

That's when he finally smiled.

"I must be dreaming… he is smiling at me." She thought silently before remembering that she was holding a locket. Her eyes grew wide and she sat up in alarm, turning her gaze at the bedside table and then at her hand. She felt the severe pain on her thigh which made her wince and crouch down. "Ow…" she moaned.

He assisted her and gently laid her back on the bed again. "Just lie down… you'll be safe. They got the bullet out but the wound is deep… however, you'll be okay as long as I'm here." He told her reassuringly as he brushed off the stray strands of hair off her face.

"I… I was holding… something last night…" she began, not knowing how to inform him.

He pulled out the locket from his pocket and placed it around her neck. "I had to get it before they took you inside the operating room." He said. He studied her features. "It's now yours… just as you are mine by wearing that." He told her.

Tifa's mouth dropped open. "Wh…what?" she asked in disbelief.

He bent down to her until his face was only half an inch away from her face, his elbows resting on the bed cushion where she lay. "You belong to me. I claimed you by letting you wear that. Understood?" he asked.

She stared at him in disbelief. "I…I am not an object that you can just claim…" she started.

Rufus just moved away and headed for the window without saying anything. "Can I trust you with something?" he asked.

Tifa was silent, not wanting to answer, but he proceeded anyway, "In Junon. Remember when I told you about your execution?" he asked. He fixed his eyes on the blue skies outside with a quiet smile on his face. 

She did not answer. She just sat up carefully, her focus on him. "Junon…" she thought silently, reliving the events from the past.

He shrugged and shook his head in disbelief. "Who am I kidding… forget that…" he said, flipping his hair before falling silent. His heart was beating faster each moment of silence and he couldn't quite think of what to say next. "Dammit…if I speak up, I might end up making a speech and she'll get bored… what do you say to girl anyway?" he thought silently with a gruff look on his face. He could feel his whole body heating up. "How am I supposed to tell her that I've liked her ever since that day?" he thought miserably as he sighed heavily.

Tifa just stared at his back, thinking of what to say, but she could not put the thoughts into words. 

He licked his lips and flipped his hair again, thinking of just changing the subject. "I'm sorry about Heidegger and Scarlet… don't worry, I just ordered their arrest this morning. They're taking them to Junon… along with that Cloud Strife and Barret Wallace…" he stopped himself as he clenched his fists. "Nice goin' Rufus… you wanna shock her? Damn… what if she goes berserk?" he thought silently as he pressed his lips together, his frown deepening as he swallowed hard.

"Cloud?" she asked.

The way she mentioned his name seemed like a bullet that went through his heart. 

"Why?" she asked.

"They were the ones who started the commotion last night for not trusting ShinRa and its decisions…" he faced her. "…**my** decisions." He continued with a cold look on his face.

"Cloud didn't do anything… he just had to follow Barret…" she stammered.

"You love him?" he snapped with a hint of jealousy on his voice.

She raised an eyebrow and she suddenly felt mad. "In your wildest dreams. At first I thought I did but…" she trailed off. "Why am I telling him this…" she thought silently as he approached her again.

He leaned forward to her, resting his elbows on the cushion. "Tell me anything. You can trust me." He said.

She was silent.

"Am I intimidating you?" he asked with a funny look on his face.

She shook her head frantically. "N…no… why should you intimidate me? You're… you're…" she stammered, thinking of something to say, then her facial expression softened as she smiled shyly. "You're too kind… not the Rufus ShinRa that I've grown up to know…" she continued with an embarrassed tone.

He flipped his hair again.

"Damn, don't do that!" she thought miserably as she felt her ears getting warmer.

Rufus did not smile at her. He just reached out for the locket and touched it gently. "Tell you what… I know pretty sure that you really hate me because I am a ShinRa and you belong to AVALANCHE… I've always been the bad guy in the picture… but really, I'm trying to change things… it's the reason why I'm back here… and with the help of Aerith Gainsborough, we were able to return." He looked up at her crimson eyes, his own icy blue eyes piercing through them as he stared. "…but I'm aging. I'll be turning 25 this December… which is next month. The least I could do for my company now is to give it an heir." He told her.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Wh…what are you getting at?" she asked, moving a little bit away from him and clutching the blanket tightly against her chest. Her heart began to beat faster and it could be reflected on the monitor.

"Given the condition that you marry me and after you give birth to my child, I'll set you free and you can go back to you blonde boyfriend." He said with a twisted smile because deep inside, his heart is sinking.

Tifa could clearly see the hurtful look in his eyes. She touched his hand that was holding the locket and squeezed it gently. "Cloud Strife is not my boyfriend and he never was, you should keep that in mind." She said gently.

He gazed at her with a cold look on his face. "Are you commanding me to do that?" he asked.

She stared at him for a while, examining his features. "Yes." She finally said.

Rufus withdrew his hand from her and headed for the door, wanting to change the subject again, "So do you agree with me or not?" he asked.

She looked down at the locket for a while before turning back to Rufus. "I agree." She said softly with a secret smile on her face. "But why me?" she asked with an inquiring tone. 

He turned back to her with a proud smile on his face. "Because you are very beautiful. Your charms combined with mine could produce a very beautiful child." He explained as he raked his fingers through his hair. "You're such a stuck-up asshole, you know that, Rufus?" he scolded himself silently, wanting to punch himself for saying that.

With that, Rufus opened the door but to his surprise, he saw Rude standing there and it made him jerk a little. His eyes were wide in surprise but he did not say anything. Rude gave way for him so that he could step out and leave the room. He looked at Rude with a mean look on his face before he decided to just proceed down the hallway.

"What happened to your reason that you wanted to marry for love, sir?" he heard Rude ask.

Rufus stopped in his tracks as he clenched his fists. "I'd do anything just to have her." he thought silently, not wishing to speak to him.

Rude approached him. "Sir, I know that you've adored that girl ever since the first time you've seen her when you let AVALANCHE hear your appointment speech." He said.

"Well you're so goddamn right there, Rude. I have adored her ever since… now why don't you tell me first on why you were eavesdropping moments ago?" Rufus asked, turning back to him with a cold look on his face.

Rude just stared at him. 

"Great… you ask him questions and he won't answer… and when it's not necessary, you hear him talk!" Rufus thought silently to himself. "Fine, don't answer the question… but I want you to go back to ShinRa and tell them to release Barret and Cloud from Junon." He declared.

Rude just nodded before leaving.

Rufus leaned against the wall and sighed heavily as he shoved his hands inside his trouser pockets. "This is stupid of me to do… making a deal to Tifa about… about her marrying me so that I could have a child… I doubt if she would even love me…" he thought miserably with a deep frown on his face, but his blue eyes reflected that he is hurting deep down inside. With that, he got his mobile phone and began to make a call. When the person from the other line answered, he spoke up with a weary tone, "H…hello, Elena? This is President Rufus… yeah… I want you to prepare the necessary things for a wedding next Saturday. Church wedding. Preferably in the afternoon during the sunset so that the reception could take place at dinnertime in ShinRa… Elena, I'm getting married to Tifa Lockheart of AVALANCHE…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_Author's note: Fine, you might be wondering why Tifa didn't react too much to his deal? The explanation's gonna be on the next chapter… 'til then… *falls asleep*_


	6. Claiming Tifa ch6

Claiming Tifa

By: General Quistis

Disclaimer: You know the drill… I don't own anything but me, myself and I… 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

            Rufus sat down quietly by the window, staring at the sleeping Tifa on the hospital bed. It was already 1 am but he didn't want to go to sleep… he wanted to guard his "possession". "My most precious possession… Tifa Lockheart…" he thought silently with a stifled shy smile on his face, knowing that Elena, Reno and Rude are watching him.

He just looked away and gazed outside the window, seeing the wonderful night sky. Seeing the stars made him smile. He could remember himself as a little boy asking a question to his mother, "Do you think that the stars can hear us, mommy?"

He sighed heavily, leaning back on the couch.

"How's everything, Elena?" he asked.

Elena jerked up, her sleepiness fading away. "Everything's all set, sir… You just need to sign the marriage contracts on the wedding day itself." She said.

"Pardon me, President Rufus, sir, but won't there be any engagement things?" Reno asked.

Rufus waved his hand, gesturing to Tifa's direction. "She's wearing it around her neck." He said without even bothering look at her, knowing that if he did so, he would not be able to take his gaze away from her again and he'll end up swooning secretly the whole time until she wakes up.

Reno, Elena and Rude all turned to Tifa's direction and saw the locket. Elena covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling excitedly.

Reno just rolled his eyes at Elena. 

"What motif did you get us?" Rufus asked.

"Red and white." Reno and Elena replied in unison.

Rufus nodded. "Good choice… company colors…" he thought with a slight smile on his face before he started to yawn. With that, he finally fell asleep.

Rude, Reno and Elena exchanged silent stares at one another, hinting each other to say something about the matter.

Elena started in a whispery tone, "It's a big wonder why Miss Lockheart did not react violently to his decision…"

"I know… that's why I'm wondering if Heidegger hit her head or something…" Reno muttered through clenched teeth.

Rude was quiet.

"What are you thinking about, Rude?" Reno asked, turning to him.

Rude just looked away.

Elena's eyes grew wide as she gasped. "Oh my God… I'm so sorry… I completely forgot that you liked Tifa…" she said gently.

Rude turned to her. "It's not that…" he protested before turning his gaze to Tifa. "I was just thinking about President Rufus… he's doing this because he loves her but couldn't tell her directly because he doesn't want to look vulnerable and desperate… I've heard their talk this morning… he made a deal with her: She'll agree to marry him and she'll give him a child who's gonna be the ShinRa heir. After she gives birth, she can go back to AVALANCHE." He explained in a low but whispery tone.

Elena thought for a while. Reno frowned slightly. "The President is in-love with Tifa?" he asked in disbelief with a loud voice.

"SHHHH!" Elena and Rude rushed to him and covered his mouth before turning to Tifa, checking if she's still asleep.

Rufus began to snore.

"Good thing they're still asleep…" Rude said before removing his hand from Reno's mouth.

"Pweh!" Reno spitted out. "Your hands are salty!" he told the two in an annoyed manner. "But anyway, as I was saying before you guys covered my mouth…" he continued.

"It's pretty obvious that he's in-love with the girl. That's the reason why he requested for a masquerade ball the other evening." Elena told him as she crossed her arms.

Rude nodded at Reno.

Reno was silent for a while. "Okay… but what about the girl?" he asked.

The two were silent for a while.

"That's what I was getting at moments ago… he loves her… but is he willing to let go of her once she gives birth to their child?" Rude asked.

"When you love someone, set her free; if she comes back, she's yours… if she doesn't, she never was." Reno reminded them. "And duh… when you love someone, you're willing to sacrifice everything; give everything without expecting anything in return." He continued with a teasing look on his face.

"Those quotes stink! Besides, it's easier said that done!" she snapped, then turning to Rude, "I don't want to see President Rufus so sad… I mean, I've never even seen him smile so much before. What can we do for him?" she asked.

"I don't know, make her fall in-love with him?" Rude asked.

"Wait a second… just wait a second… why is she letting him use her to have a child and then free her afterwards?" Reno told them with a confused look on his face.

"Now that's questionable…" Rude muttered, realizing that Reno's question really made sense.

Elena walked over to Tifa and studied her as she slept peacefully. She smiled gently at the girl.

"Hey, she's a lonely girl and maybe she can't survive without a man so she's gonna seek some shelter in Rufus's arms for a while…" Reno theorized.

Elena shook her head as she pulled up the blanket over Tifa's chest up to her shoulders so that she wouldn't get cold. "I don't think so, Reno… maybe somehow, she also has feelings for Rufus…" she said softly. The moment Elena moved away, Tifa's lips curved into a soft smile as she opened her weary crimson eyes, turning her gaze to Rufus's direction. With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep again…

*** 

***   
*** 

            Tifa looked at herself in the mirror, surprised at how she looked like. "I…is this still me?" she asked in disbelief. Elena clasped her hands together in total excitement. "Oh, Miss Lockheart… of course, that's you, who else would be wearing such a beautiful wedding gown?" she asked with a look of admiration in her eyes.

Tifa was still in awe, still looking at herself in the mirror. She was seated by the dresser, Elena had just finished fixing her hair and putting make-up on her. "Th…thanks, Elena," she said gently.

"Teeheehee! No problem, Miss Lockheart." Elena said with a wink.

There was a knock on the door. 

"Come in!" Elena called out.

The door slowly opened, revealing Scarlet wearing a white gown somewhat similar to Elena's.

Tifa's eyes grew wider when she saw her from the reflection in the mirror. She instantly turned around. It seemed to Scarlet that Tifa had been traumatized by what she did to her, but she shook the thought away. 

Elena sneered at Scarlet. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Scarlet turned to her. "President Rufus just ordered our release yesterday. I'll be one of the bridesmaids." She said.

Elena nodded silently before turning to Tifa. Tifa looked a little bothered by Scarlet's presence; she could not look at her straight in the eye.

"I wish to talk to Miss Lockheart alone," Scarlet said finally.

Tifa looked up at Scarlet, then to Elena, as if begging her not to leave her alone with Scarlet.

Elena smiled reassuringly at Tifa before proceeding outside.

The moment the door closed, Scarlet sighed heavily and approached Tifa. "Face the mirror," she said with a stiff tone.

Tifa obeyed, not wanting to disappoint her. 

Scarlet carefully removed the tiara and the veil from Tifa's head and set it down on the dresser carefully. Tifa observed quietly from the reflection as Scarlet carefully removed the hairpins that bound Tifa's hair in a tight bun. She let Tifa's hair bounce down gracefully and she reached for the hairbrush and began to brush it carefully. "Don't put up your hair, you'll look like me; you wouldn't want to scare President Rufus, right?" she kidded with a wink.

Tifa smiled gently at her and nodded her head slightly.

Scarlet stopped and placed her hands on Tifa's shoulders and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry if I had offended you a lot of times before, Miss Lockheart…" she said with a sorry look on her face.

Tifa smiled and turned to face her with a kind smile on her face as she took Scarlet's hand. "Don't mention it, Scarlet… I forgive you…" she said as she stood up.

Scarlet smiled happily at her and embraced her tightly. "You are a very nice girl… maybe that's why President Rufus loves you very much…" she explained.

Tifa embraced her back but didn't say anything.

Scarlet let go of her. 

"I… I have a question," Tifa said.

"Sit down and tell me. I have to put your tiara and veil back on your head." Scarlet said gently, helping Tifa sit down, knowing that the girl still has a hard time moving around too much because of her injured thigh.

As soon as she was seated, Tifa spoke up with an inquiring tone, "Who's going to walk me down the aisle?" she asked.

Scarlet frowned slightly. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean… my father is dead… I have no remaining relatives around here anymore…" Tifa stated flatly with an unsure look on her face.

Scarlet smiled. "This is supposed to be a secret set by President Rufus… but your friends are gonna be in the wedding." She said.

Tifa's eyes grew wide in surprise. "What?! You mean…"

"Yes, yes, milady… Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, Barret Wallace, Marlene Wallace… even Red XIII's gonna be there!" Scarlet explained with a cheery smile on her face.

Tifa covered her mouth in disbelief. She couldn't help but feel so happy. "Rufus really invited them?" she thought silently.

"You're very lucky to have President Rufus, Miss Lockheart. I'm sure the two of you are really perfect for each other." Scarlet said as she finally placed the veil over Tifa's head and covered her face with it. 

"Mister Valentine will be walking you down the aisle. Miss Gainsborough will be your maid of honor. The little girl Marlene is your flower girl… President Rufus really arranged this day to be a very special day not only for him but also for you. Kya~h…" Scarlet explained excitedly.

Tifa smiled gently as she looked up at Scarlet. 

Scarlet patted her shoulder. "I have never seen President Rufus give so much. You changed him, Miss Lockheart… and I'm happy that you did." She said.

Tifa just nodded her head with a smile on her face. She was speechless.

With that, Scarlet took a step away from her. "Well then, I'll go downstairs at the lobby of this building to see if the limo is already there. Wait for me, okay?" she asked with a wink.

Tifa nodded. "Thank you, Scarlet." She said gently.

Scarlet flashed her a thumbs up before leaving the room.

Tifa remained seated by the dresser, grasping the locket and examining it through the reflection in the mirror. She opened it and smiled shyly as she looked at the picture inside. She could recall that just last night, she already decided to insert inside the picture of the one person she had truly loved. She closed it again when she heard a few people enter the room.

She turned to see who it was and she almost fainted when she realized who they were.

"Tifa! You look so wonderful!" Aerith came rushing to her as she stood up to welcome Aerith with open arms. 

Aerith embraced Tifa tightly. "I'm so glad to see you again!" she said with tears in her eyes.

Tifa smiled at her, then turned to Yuffie, Barret and Cid. 

Barret smiled gently at her and wiped his tears away. "*sniff* You're a darn pretty foo'…" he said.

"Stop crying, you over-grown doughnut!" Cid said, nudging him before going to Tifa and pulling her away from Aerith, hugging her himself. "Congratulations, Teef." He said.

Tifa patted his back gently. "Thank you, Cid." She said before he moved away from her.

Yuffie ran to her and hugged her. "Oh, you look like a fairy tale princess! Where's the honeymoon?" she asked before facing Tifa again with a teasing smile on her face.

Tifa face-faulted. "I don't really know…" she said before turning to Barret. Barret was already crying tears of joy. She chuckled lightly and went to him and hugged him. "Oh, Barret, stop crying…" she said softly with a gentle look on her face.

Barret sniffed and hugged her back, finally bawling. "I'm so sorry for treating you like that, Tifa… I'd been so self-centered and I didn't realize that I was already hurtin' your feelin's… I'm so sorry. How could I ever make it up to you?" he asked.

Tifa let go and patted his arm gently. "You can start by understanding Rufus." She said with a wink.

"Stop crying, Barret. You're ruining your @#$%&^% suit!" Cid said, handing him a tissue.

Barret blew his nose. "Sure, Teef. Whatever you say…" he said before blowing again.

Tifa moved away and then turned to Aerith, then to Yuffie, then to Barret and Cid. They all had unsure looks on their faces.

She frowned slightly. "Wh…what's wrong? Is anything displeasing you?" she asked with a worried tone.

Yuffie approached her. "We're just wondering… have you always adored Rufus ever since… ever since before?" she asked.

Everyone was silent.

"What the girl means is that… uhm…" Cid stammered.

"Rufus told us about the 'deal'…" Barret began, but not knowing how to continue.

Tifa didn't really know how to answer the question. "Should I tell them how I really feel?" she thought silently as she scanned the looks on their faces, but before she could finally say something, Barret stepped forward and patted her shoulder gently. "Just remember, Teef… if that ShinRa guy kicks you out of the household after you give birth to yer kid, juz remembah that we're just in Sector 7 and you're always welcome to return to us." he told her with a reassuring wink.

Tifa smiled sadly and nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Barret." She said gently before lowering her gaze to the floor. She did not understand why she suddenly felt so afraid… afraid of the future…

They were interrupted when they heard someone clearing her throat from the door. All eyes turned to Scarlet who was standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. "Kya~h… the limo's ready." She announced…


	7. Claiming Tifa ch7

Claiming Tifa

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: You know the drill… I don't own anything but me, myself and I… 

Author's Notes: ehehehe… oh nothing… I'm just happy… -.-' **I'm not sure if I'll put an R rating on this chapter… but don't worry kiddies and to those with immature minds… I skipped THAT part…** making this chapter _still_ a PG-13.

--------------------------------------------------------------- 

            Tifa could not forget the way Rufus kept staring at her as they exchanged their vows. His eyes were very mesmerizing and she couldn't help but blush all throughout the wedding ceremony.

And the kiss…

At the reception, Tifa could still remember him as he unveiled her and touched her cheek gently; the expression on his face was stiff and hard but his blue eyes revealed his happiness. It made her smile but she did not move even as he kissed her.

Tifa could feel her ears turning red as she reached for the wine glass and took a sip of champagne. Rufus noticed her sudden uneasiness. He wanted to ask her if she's okay, but he felt a little embarrassed to do so.

Aerith asked the question for him, "Are you okay, Tifa? You're turning red." She said.

"Brides always blush, you know…" Yuffie pointed out.

"Meowrrr…" Dark Nation replied from behind Tifa. The big panther-like animal reached up her paw to Rufus.

Rufus looked down and then turned to Tifa. "By the way, I'd like you to meet Dark Nation…" he said with a slight smile on his face.

Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie turned to Dark Nation. "Meowrrr…" the black panther said, as if greeting them before she came nearer to Tifa and rubbed her head against her leg and began to purr happily.

"Aww…" Aerith and Yuffie said in adoration.

Tifa giggled. "Oh, she's so adorable, Rufus," she said as she reached down and began to stroke Dark Nation's fine black fur.

Music began to play.

Rufus flipped his hair. Cloud nudged him. "Why don't you ask her to dance?" he asked.

Rufus eyed him carefully. "Dance?" he asked.

"It's tradition that the groom and the bride should dance, you know?" Barret told him convincingly.

Rufus blushed at them but he still had this stiff look on his face before turning back to Tifa.

"I'm sure Tifa would love to dance with you, Gya~h…" Heidegger convinced.

Rufus smiled sarcastically at them before he stood up and offered his hand to Tifa. "Care to dance, Tifa?" he asked with an inviting tone.

She blinked. "I…I can't dance well…" she said shyly.

"Aw, c'mon, Teef!" Yuffie convinced, gently pushing her to stand up.

Tifa made a face at Yuffie before she finally stood up and took Rufus's hand. 

As they made their way to the dancefloor, he whispered, "Don't worry, just follow my lead. It's just simple waltz." 

She smiled shyly at him and nodded eagerly.

"Do you trust me?" he asked as he held her hand and her waist the moment they got to the middle of the dancefloor.

She looked up at his blue eyes and nodded. "Yes, Rufus. I trust you." She said with a gentle smile on her face before they started to dance to the music.

They just gazed into each other's eyes as they continued to dance, not even noticing everyone in the whole ballroom admiring them.

"I'm worried about President Rufus…" Scarlet told Elena, Aerith and Yuffie.

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Oh you know… I really think he's in-love with the girl… but is she in-love with him?" Scarlet asked.

"I thought you already trust her?" Yuffie argued.

"I also heard the same question from Reno and Rude… but I don't think Tifa's gonna agree that easily with Rufus if she didn't feel the same way, don't you think?" Elena asked them.

Aerith smiled at them and sighed as she turned her gaze to Tifa. "We don't have to hear it from her… it's already in her eyes and the way she looks at him…" she told them.

All eyes turned to Tifa.

On the other side, the boys were also having a conversation.

"Gyahahahahaha! I can't wait to see little ShinRa bratlings scurrying around the building!" Heidegger said excitedly.

"Bah! As long as I can be the Godfather!" Barret said before taking a sip of wine.

Reno snorted and turned his gaze to the girls. "I wonder what they're talking about over there…" he said.

"I dunno about them but knowing that Elena, she should be spreading nasty rumors about us already… Gya~h…" Heidegger told him.

"You think those two will last?" Cloud asked, referring to Tifa and Rufus, wanting to change the subject.

"That's some question…" Reno said.

"Hopefully. Is the girl even in-love with him?" Reeve asked.

"What the @#$% are you guys talking about? I'll be wringing Tifa's neck if I hear any words about divorce!" Cid told them with a threatening look on his face.

"Foo'! I doubt if Rufus could even let go of her in the end…" Barret pointed out.

Cloud shook his head in disbelief. "Guys, the answer to the question is very obvious…" he wanted to say out loud, but not wanting them to ask him further questions about the matter, he just got up and went over to the girls to invite Aerith to dance, since the other guests were already on the dancefloor grooving to the music.

*** 

            After cutting the cake and taking a few pictures, Tifa threw her bouquet of red and white roses to the direction of the girls… the "unlucky" girl who caught it was Aerith.

When it was time to throw the garter, Yuffie and Barret pushed Cloud to the direction where it was supposed to land so that he could catch it. Fortunately, he was able to do it.

The rest of the reception had been fun and a little bit tiring for Tifa and Rufus because it had been filled with so much laughter as the dancing, eating and drinking continued.

Everyone was happy for the two, but between the AVALANCHE members and the ShinRa executives and the Turks, there was some worry in their minds… 

Worry about the future…

The celebration ended at around eleven in the evening and after everyone had gone home, Rufus and Tifa boarded the chopper heading for Costa del Sol.

Rufus took Dark Nation, Reno and Elena with them. During the flight, Dark Nation fell asleep on the floor by Rufus's feet; Elena was the first to doze off, leaning her head on Reno's shoulder, then Reno started to bow down his head until Rufus and Tifa heard him snoring.

Thirty minutes before they arrived at Costa del Sol, Rufus spoke up, "What are you thinking?" he asked.

She was silent for a while, surprised at him finally asking her a personal question. She was really thinking about what would happen during wedding nights, but she was embarrassed to reveal to him that, so she just made up the answer, "…My friends… I kind of miss them already… I was wondering when I could return and see them again…" she stammered, crossing her fingers.

She did not even notice that what she said made Rufus's heart sink. With that, he looked outside at the night sky and remembered his question to his mother when he was a little boy: "Do you think the stars can hear us, mommy?"

He sneered at the memory, "If they can hear us, they're probably laughing at me now…" he thought silently with a bitter smile on his face before finally answering Tifa, "You can start packing after you give birth." He said coldly.

Tifa did not notice his voice cracking because of the sound of the engine. She just nodded. "Of course… that's the deal, right?" she asked, pretending not to care so much about the matter.

Rufus did not answer. He just kept on staring at the stars.

The moment they arrived at Costa del Sol, they were led to the biggest suite on the last floor of the classiest hotel in the place. Rufus got inside the bathroom and hogged it for thirty minutes. Tifa was just in the bedroom, getting rid of all the make-up on her face with cold cream and then started to brush her hair slowly. She removed all her jewelry except for her wedding ring and her locket; and replaced the dangling earrings with pearl earrings. She sighed heavily before she proceeded to her luggage and opened them one by one, looking for something to wear to bed. "I wonder who did the packing for me… I hope she placed the right clothes, I wouldn't wanna be wearing thongs and all those sexy stuff…" she thought miserably before she pulled out a silk white robe and a maroon night gown. She stared at the maroon fabric sheer made out of silk and turned bright red. "I think it's a little transparent…" she muttered before turning to the silk white robe. "…which means that I should be thankful that I have you…" she said with a smile as if talking to it before proceeding to the window the close the drapes. The whole room was dim with only the lamplight by the bed as the light. She went to the bed and placed her things there, undressing herself and then putting on the clothes for sleep. After putting on her robe, she turned to the bathroom door just when it was opening. Rufus came out, his hair disheveled from the bath and he's wearing nothing but a gold chain necklace around his neck, a silk maroon robe and silk white boxers. Her eyes grew wide in surprise and she could feel her whole head getting hotter. She looked away by bowing her head to her left, letting her hair fall against the right side of her face to prevent herself from seeing him from her peripheral vision as she headed for the bathroom quickly.

Rufus followed her with his gaze with a secret impish smile on his face before he proceeded to the bed and removed his robe before plopping down on it. He sighed heavily, gazing up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes for a while, listening to the sound of running water from inside the bathroom. He was trying to imagine what she was doing inside but he began to blush at the mere thought of seeing her body naked inside the bathroom while she's taking a bath so he just turned to his side, pressing his lips together as he began to feel weird all of a sudden. He began to think of her… and the future ahead of them… and what he had said in the chopper to her about packing up and leaving. The thought of her leaving made his heart sink and he carelessly crouched against the bed and exhaled sharply after inhaling slowly. "How can I tell her that I really do love her…" he thought mindlessly. He closed his eyes for a while. "Or maybe she'll be the one to tell me that first… nah… she can never love me… maybe the reason why she agreed to the deal is because I'm a ShinRa and she knows that if I don't get what I want, I could just kill her…" he thought miserably. He shifted, this time, he's facing the ceiling again, his hands spread across the big bed. "So much for marrying the girl I love…" he said softly, knowing that no one else was there to hear him.

He sat up in surprise when he heard the bathroom door open and there she was… 

She turned out the lights in the bathroom and proceeded to the bed. She sat down and then slowly removed her slippers and raised her feet up on the bed. She suddenly felt so cold and nervous. He was observing her through his peripheral vision as he stared straight ahead at the wall with a painting of a sunset hanging on it.

She did not move. She just remained seated there, her back leaning against the pillows behind her. She clasped her hands together, her grip tightening when she noticed that Rufus isn't wearing his robe anymore. "Oh no…" she thought nervously as she began to turn red. 

Rufus prepared the blankets and pulled it over their bodies before he turned out the lamp light from his side, making Tifa want to shrink in the sheets when it suddenly became dark and only the moonlight from outside can be seen.

They were silent.

Tifa was beginning to feel nervous.

Rufus could see her silhouette traced the moonlight softly hitting the bed. 

She felt him move closer to her until she felt his hand touch hers. She gasped lightly as she turned to face him, his blue eyes seemed to be glistening because of the moonlight. He studied her features by the moonlight as he touched her cheek and caressed her face, running his thumb over her trembling lips. "Don't ask… I also don't know what to do…" he admitted.

Tifa smiled shyly and nodded as she touched his hand. "…same here…" she said, feeling a little embarrassed.

Rufus smiled lovingly at her. "You are very beautiful," he told her.

She blushed when she heard that, and she could feel her heart beating faster than before. 

He slowly wrapped his arms around her body and moved his face closer to hers. "…and you belong to me," he said softly with a commanding tone before he finally kissed her.

Tifa, submitting to him, let him lay her down on the bed and started to return his kisses and embraced him tightly…

*** 

*** 

            04:00 am, Rufus lay awake, his arms wrapped around Tifa while her head rested on his shoulder. He ran his fingers through her long dark hair, feeling its softness against his fingertips and his skin. He could smell her hair and he realized that he had never smelled anything so good his entire life before. He smiled gently as he examined the sleeping girl whose arm is draped across his chest, meaning to hug him. He kissed her head and whispered carelessly, "God, I love you, Tifa…" hoping that she somehow heard that even in her dreams… just to let her know that he loved her so much… "…more than my life…" he thought bitterly, thinking about the time he supposedly died in his office. 

And he began to worry again about time… and the future… his embrace tightened around her, not wanting to let go… and he realized that he didn't want to lose her…

It made him shed a few tears which surprised him because he never really cried for a long time already. After kissing her gently on the lips, careful not to wake her up, he finally fell asleep.


	8. Claiming Tifa ch8

Claiming Tifa

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) 

Disclaimer: You know the drill… I don't own anything but me, myself and I… 

_______________________________________________ 

            Three weeks later, as soon as they got back in Midgar, they discovered that Tifa was already pregnant.

Everyone in ShinRa rejoiced, most especially Rufus. The first thing he did after learning the truth was to run to Tifa and embrace her tightly while laughing gaily with her in total joy.

It was all over the news so it eventually reached Cloud and the others, urging them to visit Tifa in ShinRa and personally congratulate her and Rufus.

"So… uh… Rufus, how's the wedding night?" Cloud kidded with an impish smile on his face.

Rufus smiled sarcastically at him. "Very funny, Strife," he muttered.

            During the eight months, everyone at ShinRa was frantic and excited about the future heir of ShinRa… the excitement heightened and Rufus almost lost his poise by thinking of jumping up and down in joy while in an executive meeting when he received a call from Scarlet, saying that she went to Tifa for a check-up, telling Rufus that Tifa had an ultrasound that revealed twins.

A boy and a girl.

Rufus was immediately determined to make the boy his heir and planned to name him _Theodore_. 

"What about the girl?" Tifa asked with a thrilled smile on her face that night.

"You decide." He said as he took her hand and kissed it.

Tifa was silent for a while, thinking, and then spoke up with an inquiring tone, "Samara?"

Rufus frowned slightly, thinking it over. "Samara Lockheart ShinRa…" he smiled gently at her. "Has a nice ring to it." He said with a wink.

Tifa giggled. "I'm glad you liked it…" she said happily before giving him a hug and kiss.

That night, Rufus lay awake in bed. There had been too many sleepless nights for him especially when he thought about Tifa finally leaving him. "But… twins… Samara and Theodore…" he thought bitterly, though he has this stiff expression on his face. He sighed heavily.

"You're still awake?" he heard Tifa say with a sleepy tone.

Rufus was surprised that it took him a few seconds before he could finally answer, "Yes,"

Tifa smiled gently but didn't say anything more.

Rufus turned to the other side, his back facing her. "Tifa," he began.

"Hmm?" she asked.

Rufus closed his eyes for a while and opened them again, "Can't you at least stay here until they're 10?" he asked, his voice almost sounding like he was pleading, though he tried so hard not to reveal what he was really thinking, "Can't you just stay here all your life?" he thought silently as he pressed his lips together.

Tifa was silent for a while as she gazed up at the ceiling. "Of course, Rufus… whatever you say…" she replied while trying to stop herself from smiling.

Rufus finally closed his eyes. "Thank you," he said softly, surprising Tifa.

She turned her head to his direction, looking at him. 

He could feel her looking at him, but he didn't say anything; he just opened his eyes again and turned to face her.

No words were spoken but he moved closer and embraced her gently and rested his head close to hers. 

Tifa closed her eyes and touched his hand as she leaned her head against his shoulder. With that, they fell asleep.

*** 

*** 

            "You shouldn't be moving around too much this month because sooner or later, you'll give birth," Scarlet said as she helped Tifa sit down on the couch.

Tifa didn't say anything but she looked so miserable.

"Is there anything wrong?" Scarlet asked.

Tifa just shook her head.

Scarlet patted her shoulder gently while saying, "You shouldn't be so sad and look so miserable. What if when those kids get out of there and they look like miserable little fools?" she joked.

Tifa chuckled lightly as she looked up at Scarlet, but her expression turned solemn again. "I have ten more years before I can get out of here…" she wanted so say out loud, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.

Scarlet smiled sadly at her. "Kya~h… we're really going to miss you when you leave, you know?" she asked.

Tifa studied her but she didn't say anything.

Scarlet walked to the window. "The people here in ShinRa… they like you. They adore you, Mrs. ShinRa." She said gently before turning back to Tifa again. "President Rufus has been a very miserable child ever since his mother died… it went on for several years until you came… everything changed. I've never seen him so happy as he is right now in all the years that I've been working here…" she told her.

Tifa looked away, unconsciously clutching the locket with her right hand. "I'm glad he's happy too," she said softly.

Scarlet nodded.

Tifa was about to say something more but she began to wince in pain. 

Scarlet immediately ran to her. "Kya~h… is there something wrong?!" she said in panic.

Tifa swallowed hard and she was panting. "I…I think it's time…" she said with a weak smile on her face…

*** 

*** 

***

            "We didn't even invite Tifa and Rufus to our wedding…" Aerith told Cloud.

Cloud gazed outside their window, turning his gaze to the ShinRa tower. "They wouldn't come, anyway." He said.

"What are you kids still doing here? You're supposed to be heading for Nibelheim!" Barret snapped as he entered the room.

Aerith smiled at Barret. "Hi, Barret," she said.

Yuffie ran to Cloud, got his hands and jumped up and down excitedly, "You're really gonna live in Nibelheim now?" she asked.

"Yes… I want Aerith and I to start a family there… besides, it's the place where I was raised." He explained with a slight smile.

Then, they heard heavy footsteps approaching them, so they turned to the doorway and there was Cid, panting hard. 

"What's going on?" Barret asked with a frown on his face.

"It's… it's Tifa… she just… she just…" Cid started.

"Just what?!" Yuffie demanded.

Cid's facial expression turned sad all of a sudden, making everyone in the room feel nervous including Vincent, Marlene and Red XIII. 

"She…just… she just died this morning… after she gave birth…" Cid stated flatly.

Aerith's mouth dropped open as she gasped. Cloud almost lost his marbles. Barret almost shot himself. Yuffie almost burst into tears. Vincent's eyes were wide in surprise… but they all stopped when Cid started to laugh hysterically. "You @#$%*#$ fools! Of course, I'm kidding! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Aerith face-faulted. Cloud clenched his fists, trying to control his anger. Barret wanted to shoot him. Yuffie gritted her teeth impatiently. Vincent got up and smacked Cid's back hard, causing the joker to fall to the ground. "That's a sick joke, Cid!" Red XIII snapped.

Cid was still laughing hard despite his fall. "Hey, if she's really dead, I would've ran away and didn't tell you guys!" he said.

Aerith sighed heavily and forced a smile as she approached Cid. "So what's the truth?" she asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

Cid stopped laughing and got up while dusting himself. "@#$% it, guys, it's all over the news!" he said.

"You know we haven't been watching TV ever since you rented that VHS tape and made us watch _Ring_." Yuffie said miserably.

Cid was silent for a while before laughing out loud again. "Okay… fine… have you heard about Samara and Theodore?" he asked.

All of them were silent. "Samara and Theodore?" Cloud repeated.

"Never heard of Theodore but Samara sounds like she came from the Hollywood version of _that_ movie…" Yuffie stated flatly.

"You darn @#$% fools!" Cid said.

"You didn't have to cuss! Just tell us!" Barret snapped impatiently.

"Theodore and Samara ShinRa! Tifa's children? Ya know? Twins?!?" Cid finally said.

"Oh my God?! Really?!" Aerith said in total joy.

Yuffie screamed and began to jump up and down happily.

Barret laughed happily.

Red XIII was wagging his tail uncontrollably as he smiled silently.

Vincent smiled at Cloud, Cloud grinned and then joined in Barret's laughter.

Marlene was dancing happily in joy before hugging her daddy.

*** 

*** 

*** 

            Samara had long straight dark hair and very dark blue eyes. She always wore black clothing and she always looked so miserable and cold on the outside, seemingly to everyone in ShinRa that she must the "junior" of Rufus. 

Theodore, on the other hand, was more cheerful and wore white just like his father. He had blonde hair and smiling crimson eyes. Compared to Samara, he was more sociable and is willing to talk and play with anyone, while his sister was the stiff one: quiet and cynic.

At age 9, the two were considered as the smartest children in their school and were qualified to skip fourth grade and head on to sixth grade. 

During their toddler years, they already knew how to speak and read both easy and difficult words and they learned Karate, Kickboxing and sharp shooting by the age of four. 

General Heidegger even thought that those children are "bionic" since they are very gifted.

But Samara and Theodore were noticing something between their parents and one time when they were seven, they overheard from the Turks about the "deal" but didn't bring up the topic to Tifa and Rufus.

"You mean mommy will leave us?" Theodore asked one evening before the day of their tenth birthday.

"She wouldn't leave us… she wouldn't dare leave us… she loves Daddy! If she didn't love him, she wouldn't marry him!" Samara snapped impatiently, trying to stop her tears.

"If this was all a deal then I wish I'd never been born!" she continued as she crossed her arms and headed for the window. "I want to stay nine forever so that mommy wouldn't leave us!" she said angrily as she looked up at the stars.

Theodore joined his sister and sat down on the windowsill as he looked up at the night sky, seeing the stars. He sighed heavily. "Do you think the stars can hear us?" he asked.

Samara bowed down her head as she clenched her fists, her gaze fixed on the floor. Her hair was covering the sides of her face. "AVALANCHE… mommy once belonged to that group before she married daddy… when she leaves, she'll go back to them… to the slums… in Sector 7…" she started, but didn't continue.

"Stop it, Samara, you know that Sector 7 isn't the slums anymore. Life is better there now. Daddy took care of everything, remember?" Theodore asked.

"Hmf… AVALANCHE should die… everyone there will suffer… they will take mommy away from us…" she said angrily.

"Samara, stop that. I'm sure mommy wouldn't really leave us… she just can't leave us… if she loves us… and if she loves daddy, she wouldn't." Theodore said.

Samara looked up at the stars. "If those stars can really hear us… they wouldn't let mommy leave us." she said with tear-stained eyes before she turned to wipe them away.

Theodore sighed heavily and leaned his head against the windowsill. "Samara," he began.

"What, Chicken butt?" she snapped with a voice that seemed to falter.

He looked up at the stars. "Tomorrow is our 10th birthday… do you want to talk to mommy and daddy about this matter?" he asked.

"We can't stop her. If she wants to leave… then let her leave… I'll just take care of things later on when I get older… when you are given the right to be the Vice President of this company once you turn 18." She said.

Theodore had this worried look on his face. "And what are you going to do about it? Kill AVALANCHE? All of them? Samara, you know that's cliché… I know that at that age, you'll also be given the right to be in charge of everything in Junon but… but killing people isn't always the answer to problems." He said.

"AVALANCHE is anti-ShinRa. Anti-ShinRa, meaning, against us. Against our family. Against ShinRa. They will take mommy so that she'll hate us…" she explained as she faced him again, unexplainable rage could be seen in her blue eyes.

Theodore sometimes couldn't understand his sister on why she seems so angry with everyone except for their parents and to him. "Maybe she's possessed or something…" he thought silently but shrugged it off when she sat down beside him and said, "I only want our family to be happy… you know what happened to daddy in the past, right? You know that grandpa killed grandma and became so alone and so sad… until mommy came into his life… Scarlet told me all about it… I just want daddy to be happy… that's all I've ever wanted, Theodore… ShinRa matters so much to me… I don't want us to fall down and suffer." she explained sadly as she let her tears fall.

Theodore smiled bitterly at his sister and embraced her tightly. "Don't worry, Samara…" he said as he turned his gaze up to the stars. "If the stars can hear us, they will know how much we love mommy and daddy…" he said softly.

She sniffed. "You think so?" she asked.

Theodore nodded. "Uh-huh…" he said reassuringly.

She smiled evilly. "If you're not telling the truth, I'll make sure you'll die in seven days," she snapped.

Theodore frowned. "Stop that, Samara! That's not funny anymore!" he snapped as he pushed her away.

"Oh yeah?!" she challenged.

"Yeah!" she shot back.

From outside their study area, Tifa stood by the doorway quietly listening to her children's conversation as she began to cry. From the other doorway, Rufus also stood there quietly. He heard everything and all he could do was smile bitterly. "Why don't you just speak up and stop acting so cold and heartless?" he silently scolded himself, but it was useless. He wanted to cry but he couldn't. He was about to start moving, deciding to just head back to his office on the last floor, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Reeve, Rude and Heidegger watching him from one corner of the hallway. He raised an eyebrow at them and pointed an accusing finger to their direction. "What are you idiots doing here? Are you eavesdropping or something?" he snapped.

"Gya~hahahahaha! I think you're the one eavesdropping, sir," Heidegger pointed out.

Reeve nudged him to make him shut up.

Rufus just kept quiet. "Fuck the corporate world…" he thought miserably before heading for the opposite direction, wanting to just get to his office and think things over.

"President Rufus," he heard Reeve.

He stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists.

"We know what's going on, President Rufus," Rude began.

"Leave me alone… I can handle this. I've been left alone ever since I was a little boy… I should be used to this now…" Rufus wanted to say it out loud, but he couldn't. His tears were already clouding his vision but he still tried to stop them. He unconsciously raised his hand to his face and wiped them away as he exhaled ruggedly, his back still facing them.

"President Rufus," he heard Reeve say.

Rufus faced them with a cold look on his face but he didn't say anything.

"Gyah… this sounds stupid, sir… but we know you love her very much… you just don't want to say it because you are afraid to reveal that… well, that deep inside you, you are still a loving and caring person… gyah…" Heidegger explained, feeling nervous because of the way Rufus was looking at him.

"What do you know about me, General Heidegger?" Rufus snapped coldly as he flipped his hair.

"We've been working here ever since before your mother died… we've seen you grow up, especially me, since I was almost always the one with your father, attending to him… gyah… we know that your father had made it hard for you as a child… but… gyah… he's dead. Meaning you're already free! So stop pretending that you don't care!" Heidegger explained, finally gaining enough courage to speak to Rufus that way.

"Listen to General Heidegger, President Rufus… stop hiding." Reeve advised.

Rufus turned to Rude. The bald guy just nodded at him, as if convincing him to listen.

Rufus laughed sarcastically at them. "Feh… what's love anyway? I gave every love I had to my mother as his little son, but my dad had to take her away. I tried to love and to please my father but he ignored it all! He took me for granted because I was just his son, his fucking heir! And then I fell in-love with this girl prisoner in Junon who happened to be Tifa Lockheart of AVALANCHE and eventually she became my wife because of a stupid deal that I had to make up just to be able to have her. But does she love me? I don't know! I'm tired of giving without having to receive anything in return… but I know I just can't let go of her that easily because… because I love her, okay? There, ya happy now? You all heard your pesky spoiled President Rufus speak out what's inside his puny little brain! Now you know that I am a very weak person who can't help myself so I just shut up and hold everything inside, doing nothing but sulk and wonder my fucking miserable life will end, are ya happy now?! Are you happy to find out that I'm just one weak person that you can kick around now?!?! Hah?!" he stated angrily with a trembling but still commanding voice.

Reeve, Rude and Heidegger were silent, not knowing what to say. It was the first time they heard Rufus speak like that… saying what he really feels inside.

Rufus looked down to the ground and turned away, letting his tears fall. "…and tomorrow I'll be losing the most important thing in my life… Tifa… because she'll be going back to her friends and I can never see her again… and the next thing I'll know, Samara and Theodore are going to leave too! And I'll have nothing left but myself and this fucking company and you fools serving me, faking smiles at me so that I'll know that everything's all right… but you think I believe those smiles? I never believed them!" he shook his head miserably. "I should've just remained dead in the first place…" he said angrily before walking away.

"Gyah…" Heidegger was about to stop him but Rude held him back. "Let him be for a while…" he told him.

Reeve turned to the ground, feeling so sorry for Rufus. "Just as I've suspected… he really felt that way…" he muttered.

"Gyah… the poor boy… I never knew it was so hard for him… and I was there when he was growing up and didn't even help him…" Heidegger said with a sad look on his face.

*** 

            Rufus didn't go to his office but he headed for the master's bedroom. He shut the door and sat down on the bed, feeling his head aching due to his holding back of emotions. His whole body was trembling and his eyes were already puffy and very teary. "SHIT!" he yelled angrily as he pounded angrily on the bed. He turned his gaze to the bedside table and saw the locket that he had given to Tifa. "She didn't wear it today because she hates me… hah… maybe it's Cloud's face that's inside too…" he thought miserably. 

He was already being too paranoid.

He got it and opened it; his eyes grew wide in surprise but his frown deepened when he saw who was inside. More tears fell from his eyes, thinking that it is already useless to hold back the tears. He closed the locket and kissed it with his trembling lips. "Tifa," he said, closing his eyes.

"You're crying?"

Rufus jerked and stood up in surprise as he saw who it was by the doorway. He wiped his tears away. "So what if I'm crying?" he snapped, his expression hardening again.

Tifa just looked at him.

Rufus stared back at her, realizing that she had also been crying. Without thinking, he went to her and embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go as he clutched the locket tightly in his grasp.

Tifa closed her eyes and smiled bitterly as she embraced him tightly but lovingly. "I heard everything that you said to Heidegger and the others…" she admitted with a trembling voice.

He didn't feel ashamed and afraid anymore, but he still couldn't speak out… he couldn't put his thoughts into words.

She noticed him still holding the locket. "You've always been in there ever since I got out of the hospital and got hold of your picture… but if I had gotten it earlier, like the time in Junon, the moment I escaped from there, I could've placed a picture of yours inside too…" she said softly as she gently withdrew from his grasp, but he was still holding her arms. She smiled lovingly at him, "…because I have adored you secretly ever since then…" she admitted.

He didn't say anything. He just took her hand and let her sit down on the bed as she continued to talk, "You should've seen me sulking for several years after the defeat of Sephiroth… until you sent me the invitation. I knew I couldn't have Cloud and I realized that I don't really care for him and everything was all a joke… he's just like an older brother to me. Then I realized that I was alone because I thought you were already dead… and when Aerith returned, saying that every single person who died during Sephiroth's time should be given a second chance to live, I thought of ways to see you again, but I felt so afraid because… I was just a nobody… and you're a ShinRa…" she touched his hand gently. "What were you thinking when I agreed to your, quote unquote, _deal_? Didn't you even consider the fact that I immediately agreed?" she asked with a sad smile on her face.

Rufus withdrew his hand from hers and started to put the locket around her neck again. He didn't say anything; he just looked at her.

"Rufus, I…" she was about to say something _very_ important, but he stopped her by kissing her. She just embraced him.

He withdrew a little. "…let me be the first to say this:" he whispered before he kissed her again. "I love you," he said gently.

She smiled happily as she shed a few more tears. 

He wiped her tears away, "Why are you still crying?" he asked.

She chuckled shyly before pulling his head down to hers until their lips met again. "I should've said this a long time ago in the hospital when you told me about the deal…I love you too, Rufus…" she said softly against his lips.

He smiled slyly as he returned her kisses and slowly laid her down on the bed, and then turning off the lamplight…

*** 

            Moments later, they were lying in each other's arms, gazing up dreamily at the ceiling. 

Tifa smiled gently as she turned her gaze to Rufus. "Rufus?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he asked.

She snuggled closely to his chest as she sighed heavily. "You're not going to kick me out of the building tomorrow, are you?" she asked.

He frowned slightly. "Why would I even wanna do that?" he demanded, his voice stiffening.

She didn't answer.

He just laughed. "Whoever said that I took that deal seriously?! I didn't, you know?" he said.

She made a face at him. "And you got me worried all these years…" she muttered.

He stopped and just patted her head. "I'm sorry…" he whispered softly.

Tifa smiled gently again as she gave him a kiss. "I'm sorry too…" she said.

Rufus smiled impishly. "You know what," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"That friend of yours… Cloud Strife? He called up yesterday. He's got a kid named Drake… I was wondering if we could let the kid meet Samara… you know," he said with a wink.

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Don't start, Rufus… you know she hates boys…" she said.

"Aw, c'mon Tifa… and what's with her hair? Did you style it that way?" he asked with a joking tone.

Tifa giggled. "What's wrong with her hair?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Oh you know… it's so straight and so long… she almost looks like… like…like that girl from that movie wherein there's this video tape that kills you in seven days…" he stammered.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of your own daughter?" she asked with a challenging tone.

He cleared his throat. "N…not really… At least she dresses in black. Just don't make her wear white or else I'll really run away." He joked.

Tifa laughed at what he said. "You should tell jokes more often, Rufus," she said as she flicked his nose.

"Sure, whatever you say, Teef." He said gently before sighing heavily as he tightened his embrace. "You belong to me, Tifa… remember that…" he thought silently as he closed his eyes.

Tifa was also thinking silently as she closed her eyes. "I'm forever yours, Rufus… no one can change that…" she thought silently with a contented smile on her face as she finally drifted off to sleep with him…

*** 

-----end------

Author's Note:   
**…you who read this fic, you will die in seven days… unless you… *screen turns to static*…. **

**Heheheheheheh… just kidding… ;-D**


End file.
